Artist Profile
Painting for me is a combination of memory and imagination. I like to transmit into my work the rhythms and visions of nature in abstraction, with the use of a bold palette. I like to capture the open air, sunlight, space and harmony with rigorous strokes. Nature alone is the subject of my work. Its allure is exquisitely pure, and that is what I wish to convey.
My body of work consists of landscapes and variations of plant life and floral scapes, using rich vibrant colours and textures, going from expressionism to abstraction. Each element offers endless variations of nature’s dynamic design.
The splendor of Georgian Bay’s shores and mountains is a constant source of inspiration for me. I see the land and the essence of beauty itself. It reaches me with richness of emotion that I simply must express.
I also enjoy portraying different cultures and customs on canvas, which I have experienced in my travels. The exotic sculptures of faces and colours always held a fascination for me.
My medium is mainly acrylic paint on canvas, as I like the versatility and textural effects. The vibrant tones are mainly part of my personality, and that comes through in my paintings. I also like to work in oils and water colours. I feel the use of colour and contracts is very important. It is how I read shapes, and with the use of cold-warm contracts it can be effective and complementary.
My intentions are to create a body of work, which will have a positive reaction, and will transmit this to the viewer.
Artist Bio
Monica Kucharuk portrays the endless variation of Canada’s beauty in her land and seascapes. “I enjoy the peace and solitude and the sense of being in tune with nature I get from painting,” she said, adding the very ambience of her own tranquility seems to come through in her art. “It’s the colour in nature that inspires me.” Never content with merely recreating on an observed scene or copying a photograph, Monica draws from her heart and mind. Painting from a combination of memory and imagination, she creates a work in abstraction with bold colours and textual effects. Her admiration for artists such as Gerhard Richter, Vasily Kandinsky and Tom Thomson are constant inspiration for her.
Monica was born in Berlin, Germany, after the war, and spent her early childhood in northern Germany, where she also received her education. In 1957, she and her family immigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto, where she continued her education. She graduated with honours from George Brown College in Toronto in Creative Fashion Design, concentrating mainly on designing, drawing and fashion illustration.
After working in the fashion industry for years, she decided to follow her true passion and enrolled in the Ontario Collage of Art and Design, majoring in the Fine Arts Program. After graduating from O.C.A.D., she continues to paint nature in abstraction, preferably on location. To capture moments and share them with her viewers is the artist’s highest aim.